Dreamloper was an emphatic winner of the Prix du Moulin, a race marred by a fatality to 2000 Guineas and St. James's Palace hero Coroebus; Ed Walker's star mare could well now head to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland
Monday 5 September 2022 15:27, UK
Ed Walker's Dreamloper could be headed Stateside after her decisive Prix du Moulin victory at ParisLongchamp on Sunday.
The five-year-old enjoyed a triumphant start to the campaign, taking the Group Two Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in May before journeying to Paris to land the Group One Prix d'Ispahan by two lengths later in the same month.
Her winning spell was ended next time out in the Curragh's Pretty Polly Stakes as she was unsuited by the 10-furlong trip and the soft going, with a tilt at Goodwood's Nassau Stakes also ending in defeat over the same distance.
Back at Longchamp the bay was also back to her best, relishing the drop down in trip to a mile and cruising to a five-and-a-half-length victory under Kieran Shoemark.
There was a sombre postscript to the race, however, as Charlie Appleby's Guineas winner Coroebus was fatally injured after stumbling and falling just over a furlong from home.
Walker said: "She was just really good and she won pretty emphatically.
"Kieran gave her an absolute peach of a ride, a very similar ride to the one he gave her in the Prix d'Ispahan. She's just got that turn of foot and she put the race to bed very quickly.
"It was pretty impressive and I think the time and the ratings have cemented that it was a serious performance, it was a big step up on what she's achieved previously. She's just a wonderful mare.
"It was great for her to back that d'Ispahan run up and cement it, I was delighted with her but equally very, very sad and sorry for the Godolphin team and everyone involved with Coroebus. Thank god William (Buick) is OK."
The Breeders' Cup seems to be on the horizon for the daughter of Lope De Vega, specifically the Filly & Mare Turf race, this season run over nine furlongs at Keenland.
"I'm open to options, but I'd love to go there," said Walker.
"It's going back up in trip again, but it's around two turns on a flat track which I think will suit. There is the Sun Chariot, but the ground may not be great by then. We'd love to go to the Breeders' Cup, we'll see."
